The effect of nitrogen and a plant growth regulator regime (chlormequat chloride followed by 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid) on the crop performance of a hybrid (cv. Luchs) and a conventionally bred winter rye (cv. Sentinel) were investigated in two field experiments each year between 1993 and 1995 at Winchester, UK. Internode length and dry weight/unit length of internodes was measured in order to assess the effect of the growth regulator regime on stem structure. Grain yields were 15% higher in the hybrid Luchs than in Sentinel. With high levels of applied nitrogen, both cultivars lodged in all seasons and this was most severe in 1994 when 88% of the crop lodged in Sentinel and 52% in Luchs. Plant growth regulator treatment consistently reduced lodging but did not eliminate it. Reductions in lodging were not always associated with an increase in grain yield. In the hybrid cultivar, the growth regulator treatment reduced yield in 1993 and 1995 when 2-chloroethyl-phosphonic acid was applied at GS49 and GS39 respectively, but increased yield in 1994 when applied at GS37. Growth regulator consistently reduced stem length, and the percentage reduction in length of the individual internodes within the stem was strongly influenced by the timing of the 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid component of the PGR treatment. Growth regulator reduced internode lengths by up to 25% in Sentinel and 35% in Luchs, and this was associated with reductions in the dry weight of internodes by up to 32% in Sentinel and 38% in Luchs. Consequently, dry weight/unit length of the stem was not increased by growth regulator treatment. Yield reductions in Luchs following growth regulator treatment may have been due to reduced stem reserves which have been associated with tolerance of stress in rye. Both cultivars were highly responsive to nitrogen. Economic optima varied from season to season, but they ranged over three years, from 175–273 kg/ha nitrogen, and were greater than the currently recommended application rates. Crop lodging increased with increasing nitrogen rate even when plant growth regulator was applied and yield penalties from lodging would have been high, if weather conditions during grain maturity had been unfavourable.